盒式磁带随身听退出历史舞台?

自1979年推出的初代TPS-L2盒式磁带单放机以来历时31年，全球销量累计达2亿2千万台，近日sony宣布旗下盒式磁带随身听正式在日本本土停止生产和销售。

Sony is sending its cassette tape Walkman into retirement in Japan as demand for a music player that was ground-breaking in its day dwindles to a tiny niche in the era of digital technology.

The Japanese production of the portable music player stopped in April and sales will end once the last batch disappears from stores.

Sony has sold 220 (m) million cassette Walkman players globally since the product's first model, the TPS-L2, debuted in July 1979, retailing at 200 US dollars.

It was developed under the stewardship of Sony founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka. Morita insisted the device not be focused on recording but playback, a relatively odd notion at the time.

There was nothing widely available like the Walkman and its launch changed lifestyles by popularizing music on the go.

Originally called the "Soundabout" in the United States, the Walkman was an immediate sensation and a revolution in music listening.

More than 30 years later, the cassette Walkman has been rendered almost obsolete by MP3 players and iPods.

Hiroko Nakamura, Sony Corporation spokesperson said: "Sony has various high quality sound technology and we believe we must keep pursuing to offer a more comfortable environment to enjoy higher quality sound. By showing this attitude sincerely, we believe that our customers will look at Sony and find us cool."

Demand for cassette players in Japan is now largely limited to elderly users. But Sony will continue production of the cassette Walkman in China to accommodate users abroad, including in the US, Europe and some Asian countries.